Folding or knockdown bedstead



3 Sheets- Sheet 1.

Patented Peb. 5, 1895.

J. MONTGOMERY. FQLDING 0R. KNOGKDOWN BBDSTBAD.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

@To Model.)

J MONTGOMERY PULDINGOR KNOGKDOWN BEDSTEAD.

Patented Feb. 5, 1895.

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....ll Gfqllnnufll l Il lllli (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. MONTGOMERY.

FOLDING 0R KNOOKDOWN BEDSTEAD.

Patented Feb. 5, 1895.

UivirEn STATES PATENT EErcE.

JAMES MONTGOMERY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FOLDING OR KNOCKDOWN BEDSTEAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters )Patent No. 533,482, dated February 5, 1895.

Application tiled May 25, 1891.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES MONTGOMERY, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding or Knockdown Bedsteads, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in folding or knock down bedsteads in which the side rails and spring frame are connected together and in which the legs are integrally formed with the end boards, and are adapted to be folded between the frame or turned and locked in an upright position. Il

am aware that folding cots of this general construction have been constructed heretofore, but in those with which I am familiar the legs of the cots lock against the ends of the side rails, and the legs are likely to become loose or shaky, as the connecting parts yield more or less in use. In order to obviate these obj ections I provide rigid locking members, substantially in linewith the top and bottom of the side rails by which I secure the legs positively in position and clear of the ends of the side rails, in the preferred construction. In lighter and cheaper beds I sometimes use a single hook and lock on each corner and em ploy a strap pivotally connected with the side rails and with the legs which aids to maintain the legs in upright position and which acts as a tie to control the movements of the folding members when they are being folded beneath the frame. In other cases where the folding feature is not desired, I omit the connecting straps and simply employ the top and bottom locking devices.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view, showing abed such as now commonly employed in hospitals, soldiers:I barracks, penitentiaries, dto. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof with the legs folded. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevation showing the end members folded and linked or connected to the frame by means of rods passed through eyes on the locking parts. Fig. e is a similar view showing pivoted straps instead of the guide rods. Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the locking parts in two positions. Figs. 6 and 7 are detail views of modifications.

In the drawings A represents the side rails Serial No. 394,089. (No model.)

of the body frame, which in the preferred form, are metallic angle bars.

B represents the end rails to which is secured the metallic bed bottom C.

D represents what may be termed the head board, and E the foot board. These consist, inthe form shown, of bent tubes which form the legs and the sides of the head and foot boards. Movably mounted on the uprights are the sleeves F, which are provided with the 11p-turned hook G and the offset portion g above which there is a cam surface f and above the plane of the upper end of the sleeve the flange F.

It is obvious that the supports F, instead of being in the form of sleeves surrounding the tubular legs may be metal supports having curved bearing faces adapted to only partially encircle the legs. The tubular form of the legs gives strength to the structure and the supports F with their curved bearing faces provide for a rigid connection to the end seotions.

The frame members are secured to metallic corner pieces H which have the over-hanging hooks hadapted to engage the flange F while the lower edge of the vertical member of this bracket depends in the form of a flange H' which passes into a seat between the offset portions g and the hook G of the sleeve member. The sleeve is conveniently secured at any desired height upon the uprights by means of set screws as shown.

By reference to Fig. 5 the manner of locking the end members to the frame will be understood, the dotted lines showing the leg and sleeve in an inclined position in which the depending flange H of the bracket rides down upon the cam surface f and comes to rest upon the offset g of the sleeve G. The legs are then brought to the upright position or in such position as to cause the flange H of the bracket to slip off the shoulder g and enter the seat between the shoulder and the up-turned hook 9 5 G. In passing to this position the over-hanging hook h of the bracket willengage the projecting iiange F at the top of the sleeve and this engagement will be insured by the action of the cam surface above described.

When locked in the position shown by the full lines in Fig. 5 the parts are rigidly held IOG against lateral movement or shaking, and this without depending upon contact of the iiat face of the sleeve and the end of the rail throughout.

In the construction shown in Fig. 3 guide rods are employed, one end of each rod being secured to an end rail and projecting back alongside the side rails and the bent end thereof secured to the said rail, as shown clearly in the dotted lines of Fig. 2. This rod is passed through an eye or slot in the upturned hook of the sleeve and serves as a guide to control the movements of the folding legs during the folding and to prevent their eI1- tire separation from the frame.

In Figs. 4 and 6 I have substituted for these rods the links or straps G', which are pivotally connected to the leg and to the side rail. This link may take the form of a simple strap as shown in the full lines, (Fig. 6,) or of a brace as shown by the dotted lines of said figure.

The construction of the hooks may also be somewhat modified. For example as shown in Fig. 6 the sleeve is omitted and pins are secured upon the legs which are engaged by the hooks J fixed to the side rails; and in Fig. 7 the hooks are formed upon sleeves K which are adjustable from each other, said sleeves having recesses formed therein, or if preferred hooks formed thereon which engage with flanges L at the corners of the frame. In these various forms of construction, however,I preserve the feature of employing positively engaging hooks to lock the parts together Without reference to contacting of the rails or end boards with the ends of the side rails. I prefer the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings.

Without limiting myself to the exact construction shown, I claiml. In a folding or knock-down bedstead, the combination with the body frame of end sections having integrally formed legs, sleeves upon said legs, said sleeves having an oifset flange at their tops and upwardly turned hooks at their bottoms and an offset or shoulder above the seat of the hook, and the frame provided with a projecting flange and with a down-hanging hook, substantially as described.

2. In a folding or knock-down bedstead, the combination with the body frame of end sec tions, said body frame having at its upper corners downwardly projecting hooks and at its lower corners downwardly proj ecting lugs and the legs of the end sections having secured upon them sleeves provided with upwardly projecting hooks at their bottoms and upwardly projecting flanges at their tops and the sleeve having a cam surface whereby to guide and direct the said anges into their seats in the hooks, substantially as described.

3. In a folding or knock-down bedstead, the combination with the body frame, of end sections having integrally formed legs, sleeves upon said legs, said sleeves having an odset ange at their tops and upwardly turned hooks at their bottoms, the body frame being also provided with projecting corner flanges and down hanging hooks adapted to rigidly interlock with the hooks and flanges of the end sections, and guide rods pivotally connecting the `end sections with the body frame and adapted to control the movements of the end sections in folding, substantially as described.

JAMES MGNTGOMERY.

Witnesses:

C. C. LINTHICUM, FREDERICK C. GOODWIN. 

